Day 6: Be Our Guest

Between October 28 and November 6, Grace Church proudly presents Disney’s Beauty and the Beast! The show centers around transformation through grace, forgiveness and love. Over the next 10 days, Be Our Guest and check out our daily devotionals centered around these themes and the production! Check back every day for the latest devotional!

BY SUE ROSECRANS, GRACE ATTENDER
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The highlight for many who first fell in love with the animated film is the number “Be Our Guest.” As musicals go, this number is the definition of a show-stopper, an audience exploding with cheers stopper and a Laurie Siler awesome job as we watch eye-popping dancing plates, spoons and forks stopper. Be our guest became the tag line to invite folks from the community to the show. God’s heart for service is woven throughout this song. Here are some additional gems inside this amazing, tremendous show-stopping musical extravaganza I found.

“Be our guest put our service to the test.” What about our service? Who are we serving today? Most of us are serving our families, but what about those we work with, go to school with, or live near? How would they say we are doing? Could they put our service to the test? I find I serve those I like and understand with ease. Serving those who I disagree with or don’t understand that is another story. We are all called to serve. Even Jesus came not to be served, but to serve mankind. Service is part of Jesus’ DNA. Who are we serving and with what attitude?

“Life is so unnerving for a servant who’s not serving.” If we are not serving we should feel something is missing. We should feel a little unsettled. We were designed to serve. Granted, there are seasons we cannot serve. Whether because of illness, family stress, or our personal brokenness, we just are unable to serve. But, once we have moved beyond that hard season our eyes and hearts should be searching for a place to lovingly make a difference. “A chance to use our skills.” A chance to use our God given talents. To find our chance, we need look for where our passion and our performance collide-our serving-sweet-spot.

“He’s not whole without a soul to wait upon.” This line could be our tag line for why we get connected and serve. We are not whole unless we are pouring our life into someone else. How many opportunities are there here at Grace to plug in? There are as many chances to serve, plug in and get connected as there are souls attending each campus. If we only live for ourselves, we are literally missing out on all God has provided for us. Having surrendered to Jesus our service DNA bubbles up to the top and we are not whole unless we are helping, loving and serving others.

“It’s a guest, it’s a guest sakes alive I’ll be blessed!” Because we serve in an upside-down, inside-out kingdom and we serve a never-miss-a-chance-to-bless-us God, we are blessed beyond measure when we serve. It is the ultimate recycling. We find a place to give, to serve and in turn we are blessed by those we are trying to serve. Story after story of someone surprised by the blessing found when they attempted to help someone else fills the air. When we share our testimonies God’s heart is on display. The song ends with “We’ve got a lot to do.” We have a lot to do my friends. We are His masterpieces waiting to be given away to bless others. Ironically the blessing chases us, spins us around, and wraps us up in love. Souls are waiting for your touch, your smile, your heart.“Be our Guest, Be our Guest, Be our Guest, Please Be our Guest.”

Posse Ponderings

Who are you currently serving? You can serve or help your parents, younger or older brothers and sisters. You can serve or help your grandparents, neighbors and even your teacher at school!?!
Serving others can take different forms. What is your favorite way to help or serve?
When was the last time you invited someone to “Be your Guest” to Church?

Scriptures

“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 (NIV)

“When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” he said, “and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.” Mark 10:45 (MSG)

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. “Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)

“Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, ‘How can I help?’” Romans 15:1-2 (MSG)